


Say Yes

by mother_of_lions



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Soft Arthur Pendragon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28070088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_of_lions/pseuds/mother_of_lions
Summary: “I made my choice a long time ago. Say yes.”
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 124
Collections: merlinoutofcontext merlinmas holiday fest





	Say Yes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the merlinoutofcontext Merlinmas fest! 
> 
> Day Two: Relationship

Their legs tangle beneath the sheets, the summer breeze light and airy as it drifts in through the uncovered window. Lips trail up his chest, light and soft as they travel over the sharp outcropping of collarbone and dip into the hollow of his throat. They climb the slopes of his neck, mapping the way over ridges of tendon and wandering over the line of his jaw, making a home in the hollow behind his ear.

Nipping at his ear, Arthur pulls back to look at Merlin, looking like a vision spread out beneath him on the bed. Merlin flutters his eyes open, giving Arthur a sultry look from beneath his lashes.

“Have you made a decision yet?”

Arthur hears the resignation in his tone, knows that he hates discussing this, hates thinking about how Arthur is being pushed to choose a spouse who can bear biological children. “I have.”

Merlin’s face shutters closed, withdrawing into himself as Arthur refuses to elaborate, instead choosing to see the conclusion that Merlin comes to on his own.

He leans down to nose at Merlin’s jaw, attempting to draw him back out. Merlin turns his head, prompting Arthur to bite him lightly in retaliation.

“I could give you better things than _children,_ ” Merlin mutters petulantly.

Arthur rumbles a laugh, pressing his face against the column of Merlin’s neck. “And what would you give me?”

“Anything. Anything you desired, I could do it and more.” He turns back to face Arthur, blue eyes sincere. “Only for you.”

In his heart, Arthur knows that what Merlin says is true. That he would call down the sky and bend the wind to his will if Arthur simply wished it.

“But how will my lineage continue? For all your power, Merlin, you cannot create life from nothing.”

“You could appoint an heir, like the emperors of Rome.” The answer falls off his tongue quickly, as if he has been considering this for some time.

“Ah, but you forget,” Arthur challenges, just to make Merlin’s eyes go irritably fond, as if the idea that Merlin could be in love with Arthur is a burden. “I am not an emperor.”

“Then I’ll make you one. Emperor of Albion, of the world, if you like.”

Arthur leans forward to nuzzle under Merlin’s jaw, nosing up behind his ear and leaving a soft kiss there as he hides his smile. “That still leaves the question of heirs. You say I could appoint them, but look at what has happened to the great emperors, to Rome. Dead and betrayed by their own council and allies.”

His brow furrows as he ponders this. “Perhaps.”

Unable to keep up the game, Arthur lets his grin break across his face. Merlin’s eyes light up immediately in recognition, and he bats at Arthur’s chest with the back of his hand. “You’re toying with me.”

“I didn’t know you were so intent on keeping me to yourself,” Arthur says, satisfied.

Merlin turns away with a roll of his eyes. “It was a mistake, I’m through with you. Go away and find a new bride.”

“Come on,” Arthur cajoles, dropping kisses along Merlin’s exposed jaw. “Marry me. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

He turns to face Arthur again, eyebrows knit together in uncertainty. Arthur raises an imperious eyebrow in response. “Say yes, and I’ll forget that you thought so little of me to assume I’d toss you aside so easily.”

“Arthur,” he starts in a reasonable and imploring tone, but Arthur is having none of that.

Moving his hand to grip Merlin’s chin, he holds him still as he presses a lingering kiss to Merlin’s lips. Pulling back, he feels Merlin’s fingertips ghost over his cheekbone, tracing down to his jaw.

“I made my choice a long time ago. Say yes.”

Arthur moves to cover Merlin’s body with his own, and they lose the need for speech.

Later, when they’re sticky and wrapped around one another on the edge of sleep, he hears Merlin murmur,

“Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me on [Discord](https://discord.gg/zcfTDsT) or [Tumblr!](https://mother-of-lionss.tumblr.com/)


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